Biography

André Kon, 2017.

My name is André Louis Kon, and this is my website. I am a multimedia consultant and I currently live in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I fancy myself a writer, a pastime I began pursuing in 1995. For the first few years the majority of my works were humorous editorials or monologues; I did not began writing short stories in/for the furry fandom until approximately 2001. Prior to that my first forays into the realm of storytelling were exceedingly poor fanfictions based upon either the Pokémon or Sonic the Hedgehog universes. Needless to say, I graduated out of that mess relatively quickly. For my first few years as a fiction writer I mostly played around with simple ideas rather than attempting to construct larger plots and stories. I wrote a few one-shot pieces but did not make an attempt to cultivate and practice better literary form until 2007 when I officially adopted the pen name “Dracokon”.

I discovered the furry fandom around the year 2000 through the late MSN Chat service. I had been a user of the internet for years prior, but when my parents finally subscribed to CompuServe I vividly remember putting that obscenely long phone cable that came with my Dreamcast to good use, I jury-rigged it to work by stretching it across my entire bedroom so I could plug it into my archaic computer and wait until late at night to tie up the phone line with dial-up internet. One of the first communities I checked out was a chatroom for fans of Jurassic Park. As you might have guessed, many of the people in the room had some form of dinosaur avatar. I didn’t understand what “fursonas” and roleplaying were back then, I was just there to talk dinos. Eventually, I made friends with the regulars and they asked me about my own fursona since I didn’t appear to have one. I explained that I still had no idea what was going on and at that point they opened a door for me. My first online avatar, “Millennium” the Utahraptor, was born.

I’ve had some difficulties with the fandom over the years, mostly personal issues. Major events in my personal life have caused me to come and go intermittently, sometimes with extreme gaps in between, but I feel like I can never truly leave this place. I’ve grown a lot since my humble beginnings in 2000 and have become much more comfortable in my own skin. Up until around 2010 I was still too timid to tell people my name and had cooked up this whole made-up backstory about the meaning of “Dracokon” (it’s literally just “Draco” plus my last name) and refused to show my whole face in a photograph. Now, as the picture at the top of this page demonstrates, I’m over that. For better or worse I’m a lot more open about who I am, which has come with some predictable drawbacks, but for the most part just being honest has helped me tremendously.

“Millennium” the raptor was eventually retired some time around 2003 and since then my online avatar has been a dragon. I am not quite sure if I consider myself “otherkin”. I’ve dabbled in it sporadically since adopting my dragon avatar and I just don’t know what to make of it and I certainly disagree with the mockery that communities such as Tumblr have made out of the concept as well. The dragon I use as my avatar is one I’ve seen and been in my dreams and beyond that I don’t feel comfortable making guesses and assumptions about metaphysical matters; I just acknowledge that the character I use today must have some latent importance or meaning to me and I’m not even sure what that “meaning” actually is. A spirit? A past life? Or maybe it’s just a dumb dragon that I saw somewhere, forgot about, and now see it in dreams and think it’s something more than what it truly is. I guess I’ll find out when my day eventually comes. Until then there are stories to write and experiences to share. I try not to force the answers to the many questions I have, I just let them come to me and accept the fact that there is no guarantee that they may ever be answered.

Truthfully, and with all sincerity, I really do find myself more attracted to reptiles, dinosaurs, dragons, and dolphins more so than I am with people. Rest assured, I am not out there feeling up animals at SeaWorld or hopping fences at gator farms. Part of loving something is protecting it from harm, and I know from a lifetime of studying reptiles as a hobby that trying any “funny business” with them is quite simply asking for trouble and injury to all parties involved. Besides, there are a shit-ton of legal, moral, and ethical postulates that need to be considered before even bringing up “the Z word”. I really prefer not to dwell on it, I save my personal fantasties for my stories as use them as a means to experience them safely and vicariously. I invite and strongly implore others to do the same. Iterations of this website by bygone eras once included the silly disclaimer “no animals were harmed in the creations of this website”, this is still true today.

Outside of daydreaming about fooling around with Flipper, I’m gay. My sexuality is a bit skewed to to my “exotic” preferences, but for all intents and purposes when it comes to relationships with other people I prefer the company of men exclusively. In the scope of fictional characters and art however, I do not have a gender preference. I think the proper term for that is “pansexual”? Regardless, I figured all this out at quite a young age. I blame Jurassic Park for instilling in me the inherent beauty of the dinosaur, and from there it just kind of expanded into other reptiles thanks to other shows like Lake Placid, Anaconda, Dragonheart, and Godzilla. When I was in middle school classmates used to call me “gay” because I’d poorly feign interest in their stolen Playboys. It kinda hurt, but I took it in stride knowing that if I corrected them and said “actually I prefer dragons” things would have been *so much* worse.

I write because I enjoy being able to express my feelings, and I choose to share said feelings with the world because I have learned over the years from the people who have read them that my words help to validate their lives. Readers have personally told me that they feel less alone after reading some of my works, especially the ones that cater to zoophilic urges and interests, and that means a lot to me. It’s ultimately validation of a taboo subject, but it sucks feeling like an outcast especially if you were like me and spent all of your developing years in an environment that wouldn’t let you explore who you are. I know what it’s like to feel truly distant. Despite their dubious content, I share my stories now as a way to tell the estranged and confused that they are not alone, that someone else out there also raised an eyebrow at Jeff Goldblum’s “does someone just go around checking under all the dinosaurs’ skirts” quip, and that within reason it’s okay to feel the way they do about the partners they would prefer to have. They have a friend in me even if we have never, and likely will never, meet.

I draw superficial inspiration for stories from my everyday life and surroundings. I write about things I enjoy, dreams I’ve had, and characters I’ve created on a whim. Behind all of that guff though, I cite the late Athus Nadorian (1982-2011) as the real source of inspiration behind my drive to be a storyteller. I was introduced to his artwork by a friend in the early 2000’s and was awestruck with how magnificent his creations were. I feel privileged to have been able to have watched his art evolve and grow in the years that I got to know him, and through experiencing the wonderful and otherworldly qualities he put into his artwork I became inspired to paint the same kinds of scenes with words. When I was first getting settled into my “Dracokon” identity I remember one of the first compliments I received was that I was “like Athus but with stories”. It was flattering to hear, but in hindsight I’ve never felt so honored. He was my personal hero, and I miss him so much. In the years since his passing I have fought to never lose sight of the original inspiration I drew from his work. It is a fire that I hope I can pass along.

I get around online. I have had my fingers in a number of communities, websites, and businesses in the many years that I’ve been involved with the furry fandom. This isn’t Wikipedia though, so I’ll spare you the laundry list. (WikiFur, on the other hand, has a pretty good page about me.) It’s unintentional, but I guess the unconventional things I do occasionally turn a few heads. There are highs and lows all over the place that come with the nature of my work. I’ve had the privilege of hosting panels and performing at conventions, and I’ve had the misfortune of having to deal with harassment from internet trolls. In the end, doing what I do gives me purpose in life and I truly enjoy every moment I spend brainstorming, writing, rewriting, reading, proofreading, rewriting again, and finally hearing the feedback from fans. I love every friend I’ve made and I cherish every kind remark or message of support that I have ever received. I am truly happy here.